Takafumi Horie, the internet tycoon who took on Japan’s business establishment with his get-rich-quick mantra, was on Friday sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for securities fraud. Horie (34) showed no emotion as the judge delivered his ruling at the Tokyo district court.
Ethiopia on Friday called for international pressure on Eritrea, which it accuses of holding eight Ethiopians still missing after the release of five European captives this week. A British embassy group of five people was released on Tuesday in Eritrea, but eight Ethiopian drivers and guides accompanying them are still missing.
The kidnapping and murder case against Andrew Jordaan, accused of murdering seven-year-old Sheldean Human, was again postponed in the Pretoria Regional Court on Friday. Jordaan, wearing black jeans and a purple jacket, was surrounded by heavily armed police officers while standing in the dock.
The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) on Friday reaffirmed its call for an independent judicial inquiry into the escape last year of Annanias Mathe from Pretoria’s C-Max prison. This follows the African National Congress parliamentary caucus decision on Thursday to express its full confidence in the Department of Correctional Services and agencies that probed Mathe’s escape.
Zimbabwe’s main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai left hospital in a wheelchair on Friday after being treated for head injuries sustained at the hands of President Robert Mugabe’s security services. The Movement for Democratic Change president made no comment to waiting reporters as he was driven away from the hospital in Harare.
The injury-plagued Waikato Chiefs steamrolled the error-ridden Lions 34-7 in Hamilton on Friday to register their first win in this season’s Super 14 rugby series. The Chiefs were spurred by feisty flyhalf Stephen Donald, who scored two tries, the tactical smarts of inside centre Tasesa Lavea and a never-say-die forward pack missing most of its big names.
The low-fare airline operated by Comair, kulula.com, has offered to host a party for rival South African Airways offshoot Mango if it ever makes a profit, kulula said on Friday. It challenged Mango to come clean on its profit performance after Mango claimed this week that it was performing well since its start four months ago.
A 60-year-old man who was stabbed to death and his 56-year-old wife who was tied up and robbed in their Hermanus home are United States citizens, Western Cape police said on Friday. ”They are American … They [had been] here since December, and were due to leave in April,” said Captain Elliot Sinyangana.
A British human rights worker accused of espionage in Angola can leave the country on condition she return if asked to do so, her lawyers said on Thursday. Wykes, an anti-corruption campaigner with Global Witness who was investigating transparency in Angola’s oil sector, was arrested last month.
The alleged al-Qaeda mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, boasted of being personally responsible for decapitating the United States journalist Daniel Pearl five years ago, in a new transcript released by the Pentagon on Thursday.